Tuesday, October 23, 2012

In an earlier post, I asked the question, "What do we do when they don't get it?" As we have progressed further into our school year, we are figuring out ways to answer that question. The first is the use of the exit slips. We are getting quick feedback on our students' level of understanding. After we get this important information, we are intervening immediately the next day. We are using intervention time or time during the next math period. We are no longer waiting until the test to find out that our kids need extra help. The exit slip is so much more reliable than homework to assess a student's level of understanding.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

One of the best things about flipping our math classroom, I have found this year, is the level of questioning the students are doing on a daily basis. For homework, students are watching our created videos and taking notes on their notecatcher (see our Franklin Math Google Site link to the right). One part of the notecatcher that every student has to do is ask a question. (We are grading the notecatchers on effort so the students have to exert effort when posing a question, or they will receive a 2 on effort and have to redo it until it is a 3 in effort). The questions they are asking are so much deeper than they ever use to ask teaching math the traditional way! Today, a student in my 5th grade math class asked "Are half protractors used more than full b/c half protractors are built off a straight angle (180 degrees)?"-we are learning about the relationship between angle measures. Another student inquired how our essay writing unit connected to naming an angle with three variables with the vertex in the middle. He said "Isn't naming angles kind of like writing an essay? You have to start with the introduction (first point), then support your thesis (vertex) and end with a conclusion (last point)?"
We spend 5-10 minutes at the beginning of every math period discussing the questions that students wrote in their notecatchers (we read notecatchers and grade for effort and prepare answers to questions before math every day). That discussion is an exciting way to start math b/c instead of just naming our learning goal and giving instruction, we are inquiring authentic, meaningful questions(usually trying to connect our goal to real life) which motivates the students to then do their independent work. It is truly fun.
This has also enriched our whole day b/c they are learning to ask deeper, more meaningful questions all day. In my reading conferences, I am finding that I link their questions from math to reading when we discuss how reading is going for them. So, this work we are doing in math is helping and integrating itself into our whole day. It is truly awesome and so fun, not words I always used to use when teaching questioning strategies and/or measuring angles!

Friday, October 5, 2012

I think one of the best things we are doing now and is having all students fill out one exit slip the last 10 minutes of class every day. We all ask the same question to all 5th graders (and Tracy and I ask the same question to our fourth graders). The question is always based on the learning goal that was focused on in the video as well as the independent practice and games. Then, we all score the exit slips 1,2,3 or 4-based on their proficiency. A 3 means they 'get it' and a 2 usually means they got it but made some computation errors or other smaller errors and 1 means they didn't get it all (after we helped them on the learning goal in math). Our goal is have 85% of our students score a 3 or more every day. Not sure any of us are there yet but the goal makes me work harder and be more aware of their performance.
The most powerful part of using exit slips is our collaboration and data collection. Every day after math, we can say how many students did or did not get the learning goal that day. We then can work with those students the next day and keep checking in using exit slips until they get it. This is so much more efficient than grading a whole study link page AND I am excited for conferences b/c I have real, authentic and meaningful data to share with parents. I am grading less papers yet I know my students,every single one, so much better.

Sunday, September 23, 2012

We just finished our first unit in EDM using the flipped process. We moved a bit slower than usual because we wanted to spend time teaching the students how to watch the videos and how to take notes. All of us are feeling that we have more time to meet one on one with students and push them to become more independent learners. One of our questions is, "What do we do when they don't get it?"

The team process has been amazing. I feel like we are all better teachers because we are working so closely.

Wednesday, June 27, 2012

Okay so our team has completed almost 3 units of math instructional videos and have them uploaded, along with matching templates (daily directional to do lists for the kids like vocabulary words, journal pages to do, games to play when done) to our Franklin Math Google Site and I am amazed at how much we have grown as teachers in this short time. Every time one of us prepares to record a lesson, we first have to discuss what the learning goal is and how to phrase it, then we discuss what the essential parts of the lesson are so we can teach it in 5 minutes or less (we use Jing then upload to Camtasia), and finally we watch the lesson to see if how we taught it is 'good enough.' Our discussions as teachers are so much deeper than they were last year because we are talking about the true meat of our teaching. We are sharing how we each solve the problems and what strategies have helped us learn better (and ones that have not).
One AHA I had while watching Sheryl's videos was how helpful it was when she discussed non-examples when teaching rectangular arrays. As easy as arrays are, it solidified the concept when she showed non-examples. That helped me when I taught the lesson subtracting with decimals. I remembered to show how to not line up the decimals when subtracting. I am a better teacher today than I was yesterday from watching and talking with my teammates.
Tomorrow, we all meet up again and some of our teammates will be recording for the first time. I know they are nervous as it feels like a big change from what they are used to but I am excited for them to see, as Neil, Sheryl, Alberta, Tracy and Jill and I have learned, that this flipping process is not only helping the students learn, but we are learning just as much.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Here is a video that I love taken from a guy who is National Board Certified and thought he was a good teacher "for 1997" as he says so he decides to drive out and meet Jonathan Bergmann to see Flipped Learning in action. He goes back to his school and takes on Flipped Learning. I like how he talks about the fact that is not about the videos but more about "quality teaching." Take a look..

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Last week we finished video taping all of the concepts for Unit 1 of EDM. As we filmed, we found that our instruction was improved through our teammates' feedback. Also, as we filmed each lesson, we made sure to reinforce the concepts from the previous lessons. We believe that hearing the concepts from three different teachers will improve our students' learning.
Tomorrow starts video taping of Unit 2.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Today we met and began the process of filming our lessons. We decided to use Jing to capture the lessons and then import the short videos into Camtasia in order to add titles and transitions. We were able to complete a little more than half of EDM Unit 1 in about four hours. The amount of time was a little frustrating, but I feel certain that as we continue to record we will become more efficient.
We are meeting again tomorrow to finish Unit 1.

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

We started our flipping process today. We meet and discussed what we wanted to accomplish philosophically and logistics for how to accomplish that. We decided that it was best to start under the assumption that we were doing something for the entire school community and that eventually all grade levels would contribute and have access. A Google site was the method of organization that was selected and we organized the site by grade level and then by math unit.
Our Google Site
All three teachers were assigned lessons to prep and we will meet next week to begin filming. We are excited about the process, but also a little nervous about filming in front of each other.

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Okay so we are just a bunch of teachers in Littleton Public Schools that are looking for an innovative way to increase contact time with students as our classroom populations grow. We seem to have bigger and bigger class sizes and more academic/emotional needs so there has to be a better way of teaching (math is our focus now) in order to do a better job at reaching ALL students. Flipping the classroom seems to be the right move for us. Having students watch our instructional videos at home for homework, while taking notes on the learning goal , what's most important as well as their questions, and then doing the math practice and homework in class would help ALL students b/c the quick learners can get the work done at their fast pace then move on to an extension or challenge activity while the more struggling or average learners can work at their own pace.
We, the teachers, can spend more of our time conferring and roving around the classroom, checking in with all students, instead of focusing most of our time instructing. Plus, if we divide up the Every day Math 5th grade units up and each teach one or two units on the prerecorded videos, the students are being taught by all of the 5th grade teachers, not just their one math instructor. I think this will help them b/c they will be hearing concepts taught by different teachers which have different teaching styles.
This also leaves more time for us, the teachers, to think of alternate ways to teach the concepts if students are as well as are not getting the information. I usually spend a lot of time at night preparing for instruction but if I can save that time, I can use that time instead to be more creative with my teaching, interweave videos or kinesthetic activities or reflect back on my own teaching.
We are excited to spend our summer preparing for this action research and this blog is where we will capture our thoughts, concerns, questions, frustrations and successes as we move along this journey. Please put any comments you would like here for us!

Who Are We?

We are 4th and 5th grade teachers of mathematics in Littleton Colorado that devoted our whole summer of 2012 to creating videos for students to watch for homework this year. We created the movies collaboratively, discussing strategies and giving feedback on best practice. We meet regularly to discuss how FLIPPING is going and to decide on strategies for when kids 'get it' and when they don't. We are already impressed with the level of questioning the students are using as well as our data collection and ability to differentiate to make sure each student meets proficiency or higher. We have a long ways to go but are already so excited by the first month!